Dinner with Ray Kowalski And a Ghost
by Rubberducky100
Summary: It's RayK's first date since his divorce and he wants everything to be perfect. But someone has other plans for him.


I really tried to put off writing this to finish my other stories, but I just couldn't! The timing is sometime in season three or four. So, here it is! Another very odd and short story from me!

xXxXxXx

"Constable Fraser!" Meg Thatcher yelled from her office at the Consulate. It was the beginning to a crazy morning. Only 7:30 and the smoke alarm was going off! Only it had been going off for a good three minutes by now.

"Sir?" Fraser peered around the corner of her office seeing the door was open.

"Please have Turnbull turn off that smoke alarm. It's giving me a headache!" She looked annoyed and returned to her paperwork again.

"Yes, Sir." Fraser disappeared from her office. "Constable Turnbull?" Fraser ran through the Consulate in search of the Mountie who, obviously, had set off the smoke alarm. "Turnbull?" Fraser walked into the kitchen.

"Yes?" There was Turnbull, standing on a small step latter, trying to reach the smoke alarm on the ceiling with a broom. "Constable Fraser, would you mind cleaning the splatter out of the oven?"

"Um," Fraser scanned the room to take in the entire mess that Turnbull called breakfast. "Ah, of course." He swiped a rag form the sink and leaned into the oven.

"You really should teach that boy how to cook, son." The ghost of Bob Fraser appeared leaning into the oven with his son.

"Dad!" Fraser jumped at the sight of his father which resulted in hitting his head on the ceiling of the stove. "Ow! Dad, please, not now." The Mountie rubbed his head and leaned back into the oven.

"Are you alright, sir?" Turnbull was now looking at Fraser with a shocked look.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you kindly, Constable." Turnbull nodded and Fraser returned into the stove once again. The ghost had disappeared now and Fraser continued cleaning the oven. By the time he finished, Turnbull finally turned off the alarm.

"Turnbull!" Meg yelled standing in the doorway. Her arms were crossed and she looked furious. "Fraser, you may return to what you were doing. I would like the speak with Turnbull, alone please." She gestured for Fraser to leave the room.

"As you wish." He dropped the rag back onto the counter and retreated to his room upstairs.

"I don't understand how he made it through training. Things like these can even bother a dead man." Bob Fraser appeared sitting on the edge of Fraser bed.

"Dad." Fraser sat down next to his father. "You really mustn't sneak up on me like that! One of these days you will learn. You will learn not to startle people as you do."

"I'm dead son! I don't need to learn anything!" He defended himself and stood up with his son. "I'm sorry, son. I realize you don't need me."

"This really isn't the time to discuss this. Can we speak once I return from the meeting?" The meeting that Fraser was referring to was an overnight trip on a large ship in the bay of Lake Michigan. It was mandatory that he, Insp. Thatcher, and Turnbull were to attend. This meeting was said to be about security purposes and other types of political debate.

"Wait! You mean I can't come with you on the trip?"

"That's right, Dad. This is very important to Inspector Thatcher and to Canada. I would be most upset with you if you disturbed it in anyway. Fraser pulled a small backpack out from under his desk and started packing it with an extra shirt and some camping equipment.

"I won't interfere! I just want to help."

"Dad, if you really want to help me" Fraser started. "Watch out for Ray tonight."

"Why?"

"Well, he's going out to dinner with this girl tonight. It's his first time going out with any woman since his divorce."

"What do you want me to do?" The ghost sighed at the thought of the task.

"I've never met her and I don't want him to be hurt again."

"So, you want me to approve of her for you?" Bob Fraser started to pace around the room.

"Yes, something like that if you could."

"Alright, alright! I'll do it for you!" The ghost walked towards the doorway and Fraser returned to packing his sack. "But I'll do it my way!" He mumbled. Fraser turned around but his father was gone.

xXxXxXx

"Mel?" Ray Kowalski knocked on the door of an apartment building. He was nervous and worried. His partner was out of town now and he was all alone.

"Hi!" Mel swung the door open to a nervous Ray standing there holding a bouquet of flowers for her.

"Uh, hi! These are, uh, fer you!" He shoved the flowers in her chest.

"Oh, uh, thank you, Ray!" She was spunky when she opened the door, but now she was nervous and mellow.

"So, are you ready to, er go?" He stepped into her apartment.

"Yeah, let me put these flowers in some water first."

"Right, duh!" He paced around and waited for her.

"Okay, I'm ready." She picked up her coat that was on the arm of the couch. Ray stopped her and grabbed the coat from her.

"What are you doing?"

"It's raining." He draped her coat around her shoulders.

"Oh, thanks." She smilled at him and they walked out of the room together.

xXxXxXx

"Table for two?" The hostess asked Ray and Mel at a fancy restuarant in downtown Chicago.

"Yeah." Ray answered. The waitress nodded and they followed her to a table in the corner of the restaurant.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Water for me." Mel said.

"Yeah, me too."

"Okay." She laid two menus down on their table. "I'll be right back." They both nodded.

No one could see him, but Bob Fraser had appeared next to a faux tree behind Ray's side of the booth.

"So, I know you're a cop." Mel started after opening her menu. Ray nodded. "And you're divorced too. I guess that's about it. Tell me more about yourself."

"There's not much more to tell." He smiled sadly and looked down at his menu. "Now, you, I want to learn about you."

"I bet you do." Bob Fraser mumbled to himself.

"Huh?" Ray asked,

"What?" Mel folded her menu up.

"What did you say?"

"Me? Nothing." She shock her head.

"Didn't you hear that?" Ray looked around the booth.

"No." She put her hand on his. "Let's just order. I'm sure it was nothing."

"It sounded like someone was, I dunno, behind the tree." Mel raised an eyebrow and leaned out of the booth. The tree was quite skinny so there was obviously no one behind it. Bob Fraser put a hand over his mouth. "Could the yank really hear me?" He thought this time without saying it aloud.

"I really don't see anyone, Ray."

"Yeah, yer probably right." He realized he was completely ruining another date. He couldn't afford to ruin another. "Probably just drank to much coffee today."

Mel laughed lightly. "I've been there!" She smilled and they both opened up their menus again.

"So, asside from that, what do you do?" He stuffed a straw in his drink. It wasn't quite as fancy of a restaurant as they had hoped it would be. In fact they were both too well dressed compared to everyone else there.

"Well, I love working with people so I've always been called to the medical field."

"Yer a doctor then? Nurse?" He interupted her.

"Nope, florist!" She smilled brightly.

"Why didn't you become a doctor then?"

"I really wanted too. I got all the medical books and everything! I just couldn't though. The family business has been flowers for over 80 years! And now that both of my parents are dead, I have to run it."

"I'm sorry about your folks."

"Thanks, they were really great. And they would have loved you!" Before he could think of what to say, the waitress returned.

"Do you know what you would like?"

"Uh, I'll take the special." Ray handed her both of their menus.

"Me too." She smiled at him the entire time they ordered. This was making him nervous. And him looking so nervous made her nervous!

"Ya know, I'm going to go to the ladies room. I'll, um, be back."

"I was hoping you would." He smiled and waited for her to dissipear. The moment she enterd the bathroom, he dropped his head onto the table.

"'I was hoping you would' why am I such an idiot?"

"You're not an idiot. You're just nervous. It gets the best of us sometimes. Believe me, I know these things." Bob Fraser blurted out from still behind the tree.

"Okay, whose spying on me?" He flung his head up off the table.

"No one." The Mountie said.

Ray jumped out of the both as fast as anyone can jump out of a booth. "If no one was spying on me then you couldn't say 'no one!'" He grabbed a spoon off the table and started pointing it around unaware of the other people in the restaurant looking at him crazily. Some people started mumbling things about him, but he was completely focused on finding this misterious voice.

"Sir, are you alright?" The waitress walked over to their table. Ray completely ignored her.

"You! Stand up!" Ray started pointing the spoon as though it were a gun at the Moutnie squatted behind the foilege.

"Me?"

"Who else?" He starred at him for a moment in complete silence. "Oh my God, you're a Mountie!"

"Wait," Bob Fraser stood up. "You can actually see me?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, mostly because I'm dead." Ray couldn't speak now.

"Ray?" Mel was running over the sight of their waitress trying to restrain her date from pointing a spoon at a tree was just to confusing for her. "Ray, what the hell are you doin'?"

"You don't see this guy right here?" He continued to point the spoon at the tree.

"There's no one there!" She grabbed the spoon from him and threw it on the table. Ray looked back again to make sure the Mountie was still there, which he was.

"Do you see him?" He looked at the waitress.

"See who?" She looked puzzled.

Ray looked back again and the Mountie waas gone. "Hey where did her go?"

"Who?" Mel asked.

"The Mountie! The Mountie! Where did he go?"

"Mountie?" The waitress asked herself walking off.

"Ray, there's no Mountie's in Chicago!" She said loudly. Now she realized that everyone in the restaurant was starring at them. "Ray, look at the scene you've caused." They both looked around and tried to smile politly at the costumers.

"Um, excuse me." The waitress walked back over to them. "My manager has asked for you both to leave. I'm terribly sorry, but there's been numerous complaints."

"Fine." Ray looked at Mel who was giving him a furious stare. He lead them both out of the restaurant.

xXxXxXx

They were walking back to Ray's GTO when Mel suddenly pulled him into a nearby alley.

"What?" He asked deffencivley.

"What do you mean by what? I know I didn't imagine that whole incident in there!" She crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry alright. There was a Mountie though, I sware!"

"Ray, you seemed like such a nice guy. Now, now you're just some mental case or something!" She started to walk away. "I'm going home."

"Mel, wait, please." He tried to follow her but she pushed him back into the alley. "Let me at least give you a ride?"

"No! You're not stable enough to even drive! Do us all a favor and take a bus, okay?" She threw a few quarters at him fro out of her pocket and resumed her walk out of the alley.

"Excuse me." Bob Fraser walked past Mel down the alley.

"Excuse me." She replied angirly. Then she stopped. "W-wha?" She said aloud. The realization that an actual Mountie just walked by her struck.

"Hey, you!" Ray called out to the Mountie.

"I'm sorry about your date, son. I didn't mean to mess things up for you."

"Who, who are you?" Ray scratched his head.

"Does it really matter. I'm dead, I'm a ghost, I try to help out my son and end up making it worse! If only I could do something, anything right!"

"Now you sound like me, whoever you are." Ray smilled. The smile faded again at the thought of talking to a ghost.

"Ray, that's that's a M-m-mountie?"

"Yeah, apparently a ghost Mountie!" He shouted to Mel at the other end of the alley. She was prepeared to run down to alley and apologize to Ray when someone grabbed her. "Ray!" She yelled. Someone had a hold of her and was dragging her away from the alley.

"Stop!" Ray shouted chasing after the two. He wasn't aware at the time, but Bob Fraser was following him too.

"Stop, in the name of the law!" The ghost charged past him and tackled the man to the ground. Ray helped Mel up and the man ran away through the alleies.

"Thank you, sir." Mel tried to catch her breath.

"You're welcome." The ghost tilted his hat.

"Ray, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize there really was a Mountie."

"A dead Mountie." Bob Fraser added.

"But, if yer dead, how did you take the guy down?" Ray asked also out of breath.

"Because I wanted to. I owed you. I had to make things right between the both of you, and that was the best way to do it."

"Thanks." Ray reached out his head to shake the Mounties.

"Can't, dead remember?" He backed away from the couple and dissipeared into the night air.

"Right, sorry."

"Ray, I don't know what to say." He wrapped his arms around her.

"Say you'll let me drive ya home?"

"Home? But the night's still so young!" She pulled him to his GTO and gesteured for him to get in it.

xXxXxXx

"Hello, Detective Vecchio!" Constable Turnbull greeted Ray at the front of the consulate the next morning.

"Hey Turnbull, where's Fraser?" Ray looked happier than normal.

"In the kitchen." He pointed his duster towards the kitchen.

"Uh, thanks." Turnbull nodded and Ray set off.

"Hey, buddy!" Ray sat down at the table.

"Good morning, Ray!" Fraser was washing the dishes from breackfast. "I'm afraid you missed breakfast."

"That's okay, not even hungry. How'd yer cruise, er, whatever go?"

"Fine, without a flaw even. I was rather tired through most of it, therefore I don't remember three-forthes of the meeting."

"Oh, well, I hope you slept wlll then?"

"Indeed I did." Fraser squeezed out the dish rag and hung it over the faucet. "How did your dinner date go last night?" He sat down across from Ray.

"Well," A huge smilled wiped across Ray's face. "It was really odd actually. I don't think you'd even believe it."

"Hm, that odd?"

"Oh yeah. Big time!" His cellular phone rang and he jumped up to answer it. "I'll be right back." Fraser nodded and his partner left the room.

"Dad?" Fraser looked behind him at his father standing next to the sink.

"Yes, son?"

"What did you do to Ray?" He stood up and faced his father.

"Me? Nothing! You told me to watch him and I did!"

"Yes, I'm aware of that. He siad last night was odd. Did he see you?"

"No! Of course not!" He still looked unsure of his answer.

"Okay, I got to got the the station. On quesiton befor I leave?" Ray walked back into the room

"Ask away!"

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Ray leaned against the doorway.

Fraser didn't answer. He turned around to see if his father was still there, but he was gone.

"Yes, Ray. Yes I do."

"Yeah, well me too."

The End.


End file.
